2013 Top Advisor Rankings: South Carolina

Ranked #1: J. Hagood Ellison Jr. ♦ One of Ellison's greatest recent successes had nothing to do with financial advice. He and his team arranged the rescue of an aging client who had suffered a stroke while visiting a remote part of Mexico. The client was taken by boat to an ambulance and then by plane to the U.S. In all, Ellison was working the phones for a day and a half. Ellison's support usually plays out in decidedly less dramatic ways, and that includes a conservative approach to investing. While clients may not get to brag about monster returns, they do tend to sleep well, he says. Ellison, 62, three decades ago helped start one of the first teams at Merrill Lynch after realizing that clients needed a broad range of expertise. "I saw physicians, attorneys, and accountants combining their practices in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s," Ellison says. "I realized then that the sole practitioner days were over--and I'm convinced of it now." --STEVE GARMHAUSEN